Saturday 2 November 2013

Savoury Meat Mooncakes

I made this recipe back in September for the mid autumn festival. It is a Mooncake but it's a savoury one with an unbelievably flaky and awesome pastry skin. It takes a long and involved process to make them but definitely worth it. They're great for any special occasion because they're delicious!





Ingredients:

Filling:
  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 3 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp salt (or more to taste)
  • 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp white pepper
  • 5 finely chopped spring onion
  • 2 tbsp Shaoxing Cooking wine (you can substitute with a dry Sherry)
  • 1/2 tbsp finely minced/grated ginger
  • 2 tbsp tapioca starch
  • 1/4 cup bread crumbs
Pastry Dough - Flour Layer:
  • 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup butter (cold)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2-3/4 cups water (depending on the humidity)
Pastry Dough - Butter Layer:
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup butter (cold)
Egg Wash:
  • 1 Egg

Method:

Pastry Dough - Flour Layer:

1. In a large bowl, add the butter and the flour. Press the butter into the flour until it gets to the consistency of crumbly wet sand.
2. Add the salt and water and mix with a spatula until it comes together.
3. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and knead until it forms a malleable dough ball. It should not be sticky and should hold together quite well, but do not over knead or it will become tough.
4. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Pastry Dough - Butter Layer:

1. In another bowl, combine the ingredients for the butter layer of the pastry dough. This should result in a crumbly sand like substance and should hold its shape when firmly squished in your hand.
2. Gather the butter flour mixture into a ball and dump onto plastic wrap.
3. Use the plastic wrap to form the butter layer into a log and refrigerate until needed.

Filling:

1. Combine all of the ingredients together in a large bowl and let marinade for at least 6 hours or overnight. 

Assembly:

1. Roll out the dough layer of the pastry dough into a log and divide into 10 portions.



2. Divide the butter layer into 10 portions.



3. Roll out the dough layer into a 3 inch wide flat disk.



4. Add the butter layer portion in the middle.



5. Wrap the dough layer around the butter layer like a dumpling.



6. Flatten the dumpling and roll it out into a long oval.



7. Roll the oval on the long side like a Swiss roll.



8. Roll the Swiss roll flat into a flat strip.



9. Roll the flat strip along the short side like a cinnamon roll.



10. Flatten the cinnamon roll and roll it out into a 6 inch wide disk. It doesn't have to be perfect but at this point you can really see the different layers of pastry.



11. Take the disk in the palm of your hand and add 2 tbsp of pork filling. 



12. Seal it like making a Chinese dumpling by crimping the edge between your forefinger and thumb as you gather the dough up.



13. Place them seal-side down on a greased baking dish. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees when you finish making your fifth one. Usually you can get 10 out of this recipe but I made mine a little bigger so I only got nine.



14. Beat one egg for an egg wash and brush it on the surface of the mooncakes.




15. Bake in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes or until golden brown and the filling is cooked.



16. Move them to a cooling rack to cool slightly.



17. Serve warm with tea.



Enjoy!

These aren't available in supermarkets where I live. The only place I've ever seen them sold is in Shanghai, China. Anyone know where to get them in Toronto?